Three Treatises
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1520
- Era
- Renaissance
- Form
- Theology
- Language
- German
- Length
- Medium · 320 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThree TreatisesFortress Press, 1970The standard one-volume edition, revised from the Muhlenberg translations.
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The three pamphlets Luther published in 1520, collected as the shortest route into his thought. To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation calls on the lay rulers to reform a church Rome will not reform, and argues that every baptised Christian is a priest. The Babylonian Captivity of the Church reduces the seven sacraments to two or three and attacks the mass understood as a sacrifice offered by priests. On the Freedom of a Christian sets out justification by faith and the paradox that a Christian is lord of all and servant of all. The first was written in German, the second in Latin for theologians, the third in both.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Three Treatises are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
